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After 22 years, Athens' only rabbi retiring - sort of, anyway

Rabbi Ronald Gerson prepares the Torah before services at Congregation Children of Israel on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 in Athens, Ga. (Richard Hamm/Staff)

Rabbi Ronald Gerson lights the bulbs of a memorial board at Congregation Children of Israel on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 in Athens, Ga. (Richard Hamm/Staff)

Rabbi Ronald Gerson heads to the temple at Congregation Children of Israel on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 in Athens, Ga. (Richard Hamm/Staff)

Rabbi Ronald Gerson prepares the Torah before services at Congregation Children of Israel on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 in Athens, Ga. (Richard Hamm/Staff)

Rabbi Ronald Gerson prepares the Torah before services at Congregation Children of Israel on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 in Athens, Ga. (Richard Hamm/Staff)

Rabbi Ronald Gerson talks with staff at St. Mary's Hospital before visiting with jewish patients on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 in Athens, Ga. (Richard Hamm/Staff)

Athens’ longtime rabbi is retiring — well, sort of, anyway.

After 22 years at Congregation Children of Israel, Athens’ only synagogue, Rabbi Ronald Gerson is stepping down to become the synagogue’s rabbi emeritus. Effective July 1, congregation Children of Israel will be led by a new rabbi, 38-year-old Eric Linder, who comes to Athens from a congregation in Omaha.

“It’s a good time (to step down) because I’ve been a rabbi for almost 40 years and going to board meetings and leading Sunday school — I think a younger person needs to do that,” Gerson said in a recent interview.

Linder is “young and energetic and a whiz technologically,” Gerson said.

“I just do the bare minimum on the computer,” Gerson joked.

Gerson came to Georgia after serving in Orange County, N.Y., for 14 years. As a rabbinical student, he’d had a few pulpits in the South, and his wife, Tammy, had lived in Georgia in her youth when her father served as rabbi in the Northwest Georgia community of Dalton.

He was interested in working in a place that was more laid-back, and that had nicer weather, Gerson said, so when he heard Congregation Children of Israel was looking for a rabbi, he applied for the position and landed a spot on the panel of candidates.

“I was interviewed, and fortunately I was chosen,” he said.

Gerson is quick to call the “end” of his more than two decades as Athens’ rabbi more of a semi-retirement than a retirement.

“I don’t think clergy people ever really retire,” he said. “There are always weddings, funerals and baby namings, and things that you’re called upon to do. I’m going to be leading Jewish services a couple of times a month in Atlanta and other outlying areas, and I’ll be doing some hospital chaplaincy work during the week, but not having the daily regimen here will give me some more flexible time.”

One of the things he’ll do with his more flexible schedule is to spend time with his children, and his new granddaughter, Ellie, in the Atlanta area.

“I’m looking forward to that,” he said.

Earlier this month, more than 200 people, from Congregation Children of Israel and the community, and including ministers from a host of local churches, held a celebration in downtown Athens in honor of Gerson.

“I only had three positions in my career,” Gerson told the crowd that gathered to recognize his years as rabbi. “First, as an assistant rabbi, in New Rochelle, N.Y., where I did the senior rabbi’s bidding. Then, in Florida, N.Y., not far from New York City, we were in a sea of other temples. ... But here, I found exactly what I was looking for — to be the rabbi of a small Southern town, in the temple and in the community, and the respect toward the Southern rabbi that I read of. You made that dream happen. I will never forget this.”

Gerson went on the say that “the rabbinate can be, at times, a very lonely profession. Because, as to the inner feelings you have — especially at times of frustration, there’s very few to talk to, except sometimes other clergy. I have been blessed to be able to come home each day, to a wife who made me feel not alone in this. ... I could never thank her enough for this.”

At the celebration, Gerson was presented with a number of gifts, including a memory book with messages written by a number of people, including Gov. Nathan Deal and Athens-Clarke County Mayor Nancy Denson. He also was presented with a carved table that will be placed on the pulpit at Congregation Children of Israel with a plaque honoring him and his service.

“It’s nice that you can hear people say things about yourself while you are alive,” he said. “I do a lot of funerals, and I wonder if people heard (the things that are said about them at their funeral) while they were living. To honor someone while they’re still alive is nice.”

Reflecting in a recent interview on his 22 years at Congregation Children of Israel, Gerson said the high points included seeing the temple’s congregation grow from 90 families to 140 families, the expansion of the temple in 1995 and the celebration of Israel’s 50th anniversary in 1998.

A personal high point, Gerson said, came in 1999 when then-Congressman John Linder invited him to Washington, where Gerson delivered the prayer that traditionally opens the daily proceedings of the U.S. House of Representatives.

“That was really exciting,” he said. “The temple was proud and my family and everyone watched it on C-SPAN and my California family got up early to watch it.”

On the other end of the spectrum during his time as rabbi were the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on this country, Gerson said.

“The most challenging time I ever had to give a sermon was a few days after 9/11, because it was in September, and our High Holidays came two or three days after,” he said. “Those are big sermons that you give. It’s like Easter and Christmas in Christianity. I had to revise (all of my messages). I think every rabbi found it very challenging, because people came and were yearning to be comforted, and to make some sense out of what had happened — and to find the right words was very hard.”

The main challenge for Gerson as Athens’ only rabbi has been to be a representative of the Jewish community. To do that, he’s worked with Hillel, the Jewish center at the University of Georgia, and he’s also spoken at churches in the community. He’s participated in the Abraham Alliance, which includes Milledge Avenue Baptist Church, the Al-Huda Islamic Center and Congregation Children of Israel. And he’s written a regular column for the Athens Banner-Herald.

“There are very few rabbis who have (the opportunity to write for a newspaper),” Gerson said. “That’s a wonderful opportunity because you’re writing for everybody. The Jewish people reading (the column) is such a tiny portion (and it helps to educate the community about Judaism),” he said.

“It’s been an honor to be Athens’ rabbi,” Gerson said. “I’ve been asked to do so many things and speak at events, and there’s been so much through all of those years, and everybody has been so kind to me and respectful. It’s been wonderful to find a nice home here.”